Q: I have just been down to look at my hives and I got a shock when I found 2 of them still had bees in, I previously believed they had all died. I wanted to ask your advice on this matter, both clusters are very small, is it possible to combine hives in the springtime or not?

A: The books tend to assume that weak colonies aren't worth bothering with, but there can be an alternative approach.
Winter bee clusters can sometimes be very well hidden deep down in the bee-space between frames, and consequently hard to spot.
 
A key problem with small clusters is that in prolonged cold conditions they can become low on food reserves in the vicinity of the cluster, so could starve just a few cm from a wealth of stores, because they haven't got the heat reserves to move that short distance.  In such circumstances I've dribbled a little syrup onto a cluster (just enough for immediate use) and then the reviveable bees have perked up remarkably quickly (minutes).  But that was in pre-Varroa days and I haven't had to try this of recent years.  Varroa equals virus diseases and those will impact heavily on colony viability.
 
Lets assume that the weather has warmed enough for you to be able to manipulate the bees  - ideally at least 12 - 15°C - and so it  is probably early spring.
 
My favourite technique for uniting small colonies of bees is to separate the frames in both lots and then sprinkle strongly smelling talcum powder over all bees and the frames you wish to unite, so they look very dusty and the bees all buzz in protest.  The bees will all smell the same and they will all be too busy trying to clean themselves up to bother fighting: and after they've cleaned up, there is likely to be enough bee-strength for the united colony to get going pretty quickly. 
Then put the frames back in the brood chamber, alternating them.
Then close-up the frames and put the crown board and roof on and leave the colony strictly alone for a week or more.
The bees will quickly clean themselves up and sort themselves out.
And so would the queens, unless you wanted to choose which queen will head the colony, in which case you need to find and remove the other one.
 
The Talc is likely to be such as something you/your wife/mother/girlfriend doesn't like the smell of, so you can use it up.
 
Talc uniting is an extremely effective technique.  This technique works much better when uniting colonies than the Newspaper method, because with weak colonies the bees may take ages to chew through the paper - whereas a stronger lot will chew through in a day or so.  Talc will probably reduce the numbers of Varroa mites in the colony as well - they loose their foothold and fall off. 
 
I hope all this helps !


Q: Can you help?  My children spotted a wasp flying around in our bathroom tonight, I've never seen a wasp in winter before and don't know where it came from, is this unusual? Mrs G.

A: Dear Mrs G.
 
I presume the wasp was a rather large one - perhaps 2cm long, or a bit more, and about 4 - 5mm rough diameter at the fat part of the abdomen.  And probably a dull yellow and black.  If so, then it was a queen wasp that had awakened from hibernation.  Then they tend to fly fairly sluggishly, although this would get faster if / when the insect warmed up.
 
Guessing that all this fits, then it is not desperately unusual, but certainly a bit early.
 
Queen wasps often over-winter in houses.  They hold on to the back of a curtain with their jaws (or somewhere else a bit tucked away), while they hibernate over the winter period.  (Perhaps for 6 months.)  Then they would naturally come out of hibernation in the spring, as the temperature warmed up, and the days lengthen.  I get lots of them doing this in the loft of my house.  They can even hang onto the fold of a polythene bag.
 
They can sting - although this is probably unlikely if they are not fully alert - semi conscious.
A huge proportion of queen wasps die over winter, and it is believed that only about 0.1%, or less, come through and generate colonies which produce new queens the following year.
 
If you find her again, when she lands on a surface, place an upturned glass over her, then slide a piece of card underneath to enclose her; then lift the glass + card + wasp up - and either let her go outside, or pop it in the freezer to kill her humanely.  Leave her in the freezer for a few hours, then take her out and have a good look at her with a magnifying glass.  Perhaps she could be used for a Show & Tell session at school!